Olson and Boies Marriage Superheroes

A week into Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal case to determine the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which outlaws marriage equality in California, The New York Times's Maureen Dowd has interviewed Ted Olson and David Boies, the lead attorneys arguing against the antigay law. Prior to teaming up to fight Prop. 8, Olson and Boies were best known as opponents -- arguing against each other in the 2000 Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore (Olson for Bush, Boies for Gore).

Summarizing their case, Olson said, "We're going to explain why allowing same-sex couples to have that same right that the rest of us have is not going to hurt heterosexual marriages. It has no point at all except some people don't want to recognize gays and lesbians as normal, as human beings."

Added Boies, when asked about the plaintiffs in the case: "These people are people you would want your child to grow up and marry. You can be a child molester and get married. You can be a wife beater and get married. You can be a child-support scofflaw and get married. The importance of that emotional relationship is so vital to the pursuit of happiness that even prison felons, who aren't really procreating, have a right to get married."

When Dowd asked the men if they were disappointed that President Obama was "behind the curve" on gay civil rights issue, Boise responded, "Damned right. ... I hope my Democratic president will catch up to my conservative Republican co-counsel."

Read the full interview here.